M-CLASS-005968
by MrsEm
Summary: How could one man cause so much trouble in a single universe! Short, sweet story about Captain Kirk and his ever indignant Commander.
1. Chapter 1

**M-CLASS-005968**

"Keep running!" Kirk shouted as he sprinted full tilt across the uneven land.

"I am running!" came the panting reply of his Commander from behind him.

"Not fast enough!" Kirk stopped, his boots skidding through the dirt as he grabbed Dollinger's hand. "Come on!" he shouted as the pair set off again, the people of M-CLASS-005968 hot on their tails. Dollinger pulled her hand back roughly and picked up her own pace, the Captain may have thought she was going too slowly but she was simply keeping an eye on him. How would it of looked if she'd just run away from her Captain? Yeah, not great.

"I can see the shuttle, keep going!" Dollinger risked peering over her shoulder, she could see the anger in the villager's eyes. "Definitely keep going!" Kirk got to the shuttle first, opening the door and jumping in closely followed by Dollinger who all but threw herself in. Picking herself up off the metal grate floor they both sat themselves in the cockpit and started tapping away at such a ferocious speed that Kirk laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it all. Peeling away from the planet and out of the atmosphere neither Kirk nor Dollinger could feel like they could relax until they were met by the starry night of space. When they'd both sat back in their seats and Kirk had laughed some more they focussed on their next task.

"How far from the Enterprise are we?" Kirk asked.

"Five hours," Dollinger answered as she dialled in the coordinates.

"Great, gives us enough time to get our story straight." Trying not to roll her eyes Dollinger sat back again and eyed her Captain suspiciously.

"Story?" she asked and Kirk confidently stared at her straight back.

"I don't know about you Commander, but I could do without the judgemental gaze of Mister Spock." Kirk dipped his head and looked up at her through his lashes. He knew Dollinger to be a smart cookie and would get his insinuation easily enough, that if they told the truth, Spock would without doubt report it immediately and they'd both get hauled in by Starfleet.

"Aye Captain," was Dollinger's reply which told him she was on the same page and wouldn't be causing any trouble, which she never did. She watched as he stood up and went to the back of the shuttle, stretching his arms above his head he yawned inelegantly before turning to see that Dollinger was watching him.

"I'm going to get some sleep, you take first shift." With a two finger salute Kirk lay down on the bench and brought his arms up and behind his head. After a couple of adjustments to his position he let out a sigh and closed his eyes, all the while Dollinger watching on.

"Aye Captain," she answered as she turned back round to her console.

* * *

"Captain?" shaking his shoulder gently Dollinger peered down at the sleeping beauty and smirked. "Captain Kirk, Sir?" Still nothing. She'd had enough, giving his arm a pretty decent shove she tried again. "Sir!" she all but shouted and then had to take a step back as Kirk jumped up from the bench bleary eyed and instinctively started making a run for it. He only made it two steps before he realised that he wasn't in a stranger's apartment sleeping with their partner but on the shuttle with Commander Dollinger.

"Jesus Dollinger, you couldn't have woke me up with the smell of fresh coffee or something?" Dollinger didn't bother to respond, instead she took his place on the bench, positioned her arms behind her head as he had done and closed her eyes.

"Your shift Captain," she said with her eyes still closed and was asleep before she heard Kirk walk away.

* * *

The smell of fresh hot coffee woke Dollinger from a pretty decent kip, opening her eyes she saw Kirk sat at the front of the shuttle sipping on a cup. Standing and stretching she made her way over, seeing that it had only been an hour and they still had two to go. Sitting in the chair next to him she gave him a quick smile.

"Fancy a cup?" Kirk asked, raising his own at her.

"I'm good, thanks." She answered as she carried out diagnostics.

"You don't drink coffee?" he asked surprised.

"I do drink coffee," Dollinger answered leaving Kirk confused (which wasn't difficult).

"Then why aren't you having a cup?" Kirk turned so that he was facing her.

"I don't want one?" she told him quizzically. Kirk turned back to face his console, taking a long loud slurp of coffee he looked at her again.

"Anybody ever told you Dollinger that you scare people?" Kirk gibed.

"Can't say that they have Sir," Dollinger answered, not looking away from her console and knowing perfectly well what Kirk was up to.

"Huh?" Kirk uttered, "That's surprising!"

"Is it?" she asked, sounding altogether disinterested.

"Yeah, I mean, I would have thought by now that somebody would have told you that you're terrifying?" Kirk widened his eyes comically before crossing his legs.

"They haven't," Dollinger was trying to keep calm, she'd learnt over the years to count to ten in her head whenever she was stuck in small talk with the Captain.

"Really?" Dollinger figured he was being rhetorical so said nothing in the hope that he'd get bored. "You don't think you can be quite… gauche at times?" Wow, he was really going for it this time wasn't he?

"Gauche Sir?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, it means…"

"I know what it means Sir," she interrupted him. "I just didn't expect you to be the type of person to use a word like that?" Kirk scoffed in response.

"And what kind of word is that Commander?" she had two options she thought to herself.

"A big one?" she'd gone for the second option, it was perhaps a mistake! Kirk laughed and swung his arm over the back of his chair.

"I know big words!" he said, feeling like he sounded like a toddler. "What I mean to say is that I'm not a total Neanderthal."

"Of course not Sir," Dollinger smiled sweetly at him as Kirk made a mental note never to try and use a word he'd overheard Uhura use again. About half an hour of silence followed after, in which Kirk made three more coffees and Dollinger sat at the controls ignoring his incessant finger tapping.

"Where's home Commander?" Kirk finally queried when the silence was too much for him to take.

"Here and there," she answered. "You?" she had to throw him at least one bone.

"Riverside, Washington County, Iowa." Kirk replied proudly. Another awkward silence fell upon them, awkward for Kirk at least. "Any siblings?"

"Nope," Dollinger answered slowly, shaking her head and cracking her neck at the same time. She couldn't even be bothered to ask the question back.

"I really feel like we're getting to know one another Dollinger!" Kirk muttered and she couldn't help but laugh out loud at his sarcastic tone. Kirk felt like he'd cracked a nut and grinned. "Can I call you Doll?"

"No!" Oh crap he'd blown it!

"I'm going to call you Doll," he doubled down.

"Don't," she'd lost her patience.

"I think I will…?" Kirk got back up and wandered to the back of the shuttle leaving Dollinger to heave a heavy sigh and get up herself. Going to stand next to him she crossed her arms and looked at him feigning interest.

"Do you have any siblings…? Sir?" she ground out.

Gotcha!

"Why, yes I do, thank you for asking Commander…"

* * *

As the shuttle docked both Kirk and Dollinger stepped off together, upon seeing Spock waiting for them Kirk swore under his breath.

"Remember what I said Doll yeah? We didn't steal the statue." He said without moving his lips leaving him to sound like a ventriloquist's dummy.

"We?" Dollinger looked at him sternly.

"I, I didn't steal any statues, in fact, there were no statues of any kind on the planet." He whispered out of the corner of his mouth as they continued to walk toward Mister Spock.

"If you don't call me Doll again," she told him and Kirk stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Looking at her incredulously he couldn't help but grin at her widely. Dollinger just looked at him nonplussed. "Are you threatening me Commander?" he asked with mock offence. Taking the smallest step towards him she watched as he gulped loudly. She had him.

"I would never threaten you Captain," she told him smoothly. "I think this is blackmail isn't it?" with the smallest of winks Dollinger made her way over to Spock and turning back to Kirk caught his attention. "I'll have my report on your desk by the end of the day, Captain Kirk." She told him pointedly and Kirk gulped again.

"Thank you Commander Doll…"

Don't do it!

"…inger," he added.

Smart move.

With a two fingered salute Dollinger left the shuttle bay smirking, life was never boring was it?

**The End**


	2. Chapter 2

Dollinger stood back whilst the away team did their thing, watching the perimeter lining of the tall trees that surrounded them she kept her eyes and ears open. As she scanned from left to right Kirk caught her attention, giving her a wink as their eyes met before she continued to focus on the task at hand. Her expression didn't change, she knew he was trying to distract her. It was an ongoing rivalry between them, one she could have done without.

"Right team, let's split up shall we." Kirk shouted out, "Dollinger you're with me." It took all of her energy not to roll her eyes as she watched Commander Spock walk off with Lieutenant Commander Nordqvist and Doctor McCoy strode off with Lieutenant Fletcher.

Walking beside Kirk she kept her eyes on the horizon, matching each other's pace the pair made it to the clearing in relatively little time.

"What now?" Kirk asked her and Dollinger looked at him perplexed.

"You're asking me Sir?" she said and Kirk looked at her sheepishly.

"I was hoping you had been listening when Spock told everybody what to do?" he winced and Dollinger just looked at him blankly.

"Assess the terrain, mark anything of interest Sir." She told him knowing full well he knew exactly what to do. Kirk clicked his fingers in response, pulled out his tricorder and Dollinger did the same. For the next half hour the pair walked around… assessing the terrain and marking anything of interest.

"Alright I'm done," Kirk proclaimed, dropping his tricorder to his side and looking at Dollinger with raised eyebrows. Dollinger nodded her head curtly, not in the least bit interested in arguing with him on the merits of a full exploration.

"Aye Sir," she answered whilst tapping her communicator. "Commander Dollinger to Doctor McCoy," listening for a response and hearing none Dollinger looked at Kirk indifferently. "Dollinger to Lieutenant Fletcher?" when there was nothing Kirk tapped his own communicator.

"Mister Spock?" he called out and when no answer came gave Dollinger a look akin to somebody forgetting they'd left the oven on at home.

"Shall we head back in that direction Sir?" Dollinger suggested, hitching her thumb behind her and Kirk nodded.

"I think that's best," he agreed striding passed her and picking up his pace. Neither one of them voiced their concerns or hypothetical reasons as to why none of the away team were responding, first coming to the spot where Doctor McCoy and Lieutenant Fletcher were supposed to be Kirk swore under his breath when they were nowhere to be seen. Dollinger checked her communication channels were open and that's when she discovered she could no longer contact the Enterprise.

"Captain, can you do me a favour Sir? Check your comm to the ship." From the way she didn't look up at him when she spoke, too busy checking her tricorder Kirk knew there was a major problem.

"Kirk to Enterprise…" Dollinger's gaze came up to Kirk's. "Kirk to Enterprise, come in." Nodding her head slowly Dollinger looked around them as she formulated a plan.

"Sir I suggest we try to find Commander Spock and Lieutenant Commander Nordqvist, they may be with the others…"

"Agreed," Kirk interrupted as once again he strode passed her in search of his crew. Dollinger could tell he was agitated, his shoulders came up a couple of inches and the lines around his jaw and mouth tightened. She'd seen the same look only a handful of times, fortunately. Again they arrived to where Spock and Nordqvist were supposed to be to find nothing, leaving Kirk throwing his hands up in the air. "What the hell are we supposed to do now?!" he asked. Dollinger pulled out her tricorder again and tapped away, all the while Kirk looking on. "What are you doing?" he finally asked her.

"I'm setting up a beacon Sir, hopefully the others will be able to pick it up."

"What about the ship? Will they be able to detect it?" Dollinger screwed up her lips in deliberation.

"I don't know Sir," she answered honestly.

"Great," Kirk looked around them and ran his hands over his face. "What do we do now Dollinger?" he genuinely asked her. Looking up at the sky she turned her attention back to Kirk.

"We stop." She replied.

"Stop? What do you mean stop?" Kirk asked, his brow creased in confusion.

"S. T. O. P. Sir," she explained. "Stay calm Captain, panic is your worst enemy." Dollinger told him and Kirk scoffed.

"I am calm Dollinger," his voice cracking as he spoke undermined his declaration somewhat.

"You look panicked Sir," Dollinger told him.

"I do not! This is my calm face," Kirk looked off into the distance trying to look calm. "See, calm." Dollinger tried not to laugh, instead she cleared her throat and got back on topic.

"So, S. T. O. P. Stay calm, think, did we travel in a straight line? Did we pass anything out of the ordinary?"

"I don't think so?" Kirk answered now wishing he'd paid more attention.

"Observe Sir, how long can we make our water last? Did we see any footprints?" Kirk rolled his eyes anxiously.

"Dollinger I'll be honest! I didn't see anything!" Kirk said nervously.

"Plan, we should mark our progression with rocks." Kirk looked to the floor instantly and picked up a stone.

"I'll do that," he was thankful for a job to do.

"We need to find cover Captain, it's going to start going dark soon and we don't know the terrain well enough for me to be confident enough to traverse it in the dark." Her cerulean eyes, much more striking than his cobalt were steadfast in their focus at the task in hand and Kirk realised he felt more at ease being with Dollinger in this situation than anybody else.

"Alright, what do you suggest?" he asked, completely letting her take the lead. Dollinger set off back to the forest, Kirk hot on her heels.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right spot?" Kirk asked Dollinger as she began to make a shelter.

"This is nice and dry Captain, there's nothing worse than wetness for sucking out body heat. It isn't too cold, we're on high ground which means the breeze will help keep the bugs away plus we'll be easier to see if one of the other away team members pass by." Kirk looked at her and nodded.

"So yes then?" Dollinger ignored his glib remark and continued to collect branches and sticks. "How can I help?" he asked a moment later when he realised he was just stood watching Dollinger do all the work.

"Can you start leaning these branches against that overhang?" she asked and Kirk nodded. "Make sure the limbs are at an angle to help shield us from the rain Sir." Kirk continued to do what he was told as Dollinger collected leaves, boughs, bark and whatever else she could get her hands on. Piling the lot on top the pair stood and surveyed their creation.

"Well, shall we try it out?" he asked noticing that it was going dark pretty quickly. Kirk crawled in realising the thing was pretty small and coughed when he got a face full of leaves. "What are you doing?!" he asked Dollinger who was outside throwing the dry leaves in.

"It's for us to sit on Sir." She told him as she crawled in herself with two sticks in her hands.

"What are those for?" he asked her looking dumbfounded.

"To start a fire?" Dollinger answered really not understanding how Kirk could have gone his entire life not knowing basic survival skills. Kirk pulled his phaser from his hip.

"Why don't you just use this?" he asked her and the look on Dollinger's face told him she hadn't even thought of it, or so he thought. Smirking Kirk scrambled over her and pointed the thing at the pile of wood and kindling they'd collected earlier.

"Err Captain, I don't think…" With a single blast the only thing Kirk managed to achieve was a fountain of twigs flying through the air and a scorch mark on the ground. The pair of them stayed silent, Kirk not daring to look at Dollinger. "Do you want me to err…?" Dollinger started and Kirk waved her over.

"I mean sure, we can try it your way." He said dismissively as he crawled back and sat down. Kirk watched avidly as Dollinger rapidly rubbed one stick against another, larger and flatter one, kindling sitting in the midst. Every now and again she would pick the thing up and blow on it gently and when smoke appeared Kirk couldn't help but clap and edge closer to watch as a flame burst forth. Dollinger slowly built up the fire until the pair of them naturally found themselves gathering around it slightly away from the opening of their shelter, rubbing their hands together and enjoying the warmth.

"Do we sing a song?" Kirk asked quietly.

"No," Dollinger replied without skipping a beat.

"I think we do…"

"We don't," Dollinger cut him off. "We need to be able to hear if anyone or anything comes near." She expanded, not envisioning that she needed to explain to the Captain the dangerous situation they had found themselves in. Kirk opened his mouth but stopped short.

"Anything?" he repeated. Dollinger peered at him impassively but said nothing.

"You should get some rest Captain, I'll take first lookout." Dollinger settled near the small opening of the shelter with her phaser in hand, the temperature was dropping and the small fire could only provide so much heat. They needed to find the others as soon as it was light otherwise they were in big trouble.

* * *

Kirk woke up and immediately realised he was alone, bolting upright he saw that it was daylight and as he scrambled from the shelter he rubbed at his eyes hastily. He opened his mouth to shout out for Dollinger but thought better of it, searching through the trees that surrounded him he looked for signs of his Commander. He thought they were taking shifts? Why hadn't she woken him? Unless she couldn't wake him? Kirk realised he was scared. As he span round he spotted her instantly and felt an overwhelming sense of relief mixed with complete and utter humiliation that he'd panicked so quickly. Clearing his throat he tried to sound composed.

"Hey," he said as Dollinger stopped in front of him. Creasing her brow Dollinger couldn't work out if Kirk was angry at her or hitting on her.

"Captain?" she replied wearily. "You okay?" she asked a minute later.

"Me?!" Kirk barked whilst pointing to himself. "I'm great!" Letting out an incredulous breath he looked at her as if she was crazy and turned away.

"Alright? I've just been on a scout, still no sign of anybody. If you're ready, I think we should get moving." Kirk composed himself and then turned back to her.

"Sounds good," he answered stopping himself from giving her a thumbs up. "After you," he gestured for her to lead the way. "You haven't slept?" he asked.

"No Sir," she replied as they started to make their way down the ravine.

"Aren't you tired?" he couldn't help but ask, she didn't look tired.

"I usually only have four hours a night anyway Captain," she found herself explaining.

"You're a machine Dollinger," Kirk whispered as he shook his head.

The pair walked for an hour in silence, Kirk watched as every now and again Dollinger would look at something on the ground or in the sky. He had no idea what she was doing.

"What's our back up plan Dollinger?" he asked. Dollinger hadn't thought that far ahead, she was still trying to work out what the hell had happened and how they were going to find the others.

"Did you ever get lost as a child Captain?" she asked as they made their way down a steep gorge.

"Multiple times," Kirk answered honestly.

"And what did your parents tell you to do?" Kirk grinned.

"Sit tight, they'd find me." He answered. "But Dollinger, we haven't done that?"

"Yeah I know!" Dollinger replied as she skidded on her backside down a particularly slippy part of the rocks. "I'm maybe thinking that was a mistake?!" rubbing her behind Dollinger raised her brows at Kirk.

"So they're not lost, we are?" Kirk replied.

"Could be? It's hard to say…" carrying on Kirk looked after dumbfounded.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

"Shh!" putting her finger to her lips she looked at Kirk whilst she tried to hear what she thought she just heard. "Did you hear that?" she whispered.

"No," Kirk looked around them. "What did you hear?" he whispered back.

"Voices," without warning Dollinger tackled Kirk to the ground and all but pushed his head into the crook of her arm.

"Dollinger! I can't breathe!" That's when she saw them, Spock, McCoy, Nordqvist and Fletcher.

"Commander Spock!" she shouted scrambling to her feet leaving Kirk a crumpled mess on the floor. As the foursome made their way over to them Kirk stood, brushing the leaves and dirt off of his uniform and glaring angrily at Dollinger.

"Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes." McCoy exclaimed.

"What happened?" Dollinger asked Spock.

"Storm of some kind, cut out communications." McCoy answered anyway. "You okay Jim?" he asked as Spock and Dollinger stood to one side discussing their next move.

"Yeah I'm alright Bones, you?" McCoy looked at Fletcher who was smoothing her hair down.

"We managed," he replied giving her a wink before turning back to Kirk. "So," McCoy turned back to Spock and Dollinger. "We have a plan?" he asked eyebrows raised.

"Indeed we do Doctor," Spock answered as he walked passed the Georgian and stood beside Kirk. "Captain, I believe our best course of action is to return to the rendezvous point and await contact from the Enterprise." Kirk looked at him plain faced.

"Sit tight?" Kirk confirmed side-eyeing Dollinger as he spoke.

"Yes Sir," Spock said, unaware of the silent conversation between Captain and Commander.

"Sounds like a plan!" Kirk slapped the Vulcan's arm good naturedly and stepped towards Dollinger. "Let me get this straight?" he said as he spoke closely into Dollinger's ear. "Starfleet's best and brightest got lost and instead of staying where they were like their Mothers taught them they went rambling off and stayed the night in a makeshift shelter?" Dollinger turned and looked at him passively.

"Looks that way Sir," Dollinger replied quietly as Kirk closed his eyes in despair. "I like to look on the bright side though Captain," she added.

"And what's that?" Kirk asked irritated.

"You talk in your sleep," Kirk's jaw tightened as he looked at Dollinger who for all intents and purposes looked perfectly serene and professional on the outside but he knew that behind that slick façade she was laughing her arse off at him.

"What? What did I… say?" he spluttered.

"Oh nothing of consequence Captain, but I didn't know you were a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan?" The slight crease in her brow distracted Kirk from the fact that Dollinger was smirking.

"How?"

"Even whilst asleep your rendition of the Pirates of Penzance was stellar Sir!" seeing that all the colour had drained from his face Dollinger took hold of his arm and squeezed. "Don't worry Captain, your secret is safe with me." Walking off Kirk watched after her.

"You ready Jim?" he heard McCoy call out to him but said nothing. "Jim?!"


End file.
